Blog Widget by LinkWithin

{real parties} Lady Bug 1st Birthday - Melissa

Wednesday, February 23

Party Girl: Melissa
Celebration Type: 1st Birthday Party
Theme: Lady Bug
Color Palette: Red, Green, Black & White with an unexpected splash of blue

I have to say, when Melissa first contacted me about creating a ladybug birthday invitation for her daughter's 1st birthday,
I had a mix of emotions.
One: Her request reminded me of when I hosted my own ladybug themed birthday party for my daughter Clara...
twelve years ago. Wow!!
Two: With the market saturated with lady bug themed parties and invitations, we both knew we wanted something a little different.

For starters, we strayed away from the standard 5x7 and designed a 5x5 invitation.
We then created a color palette using "grown-up colors" with a splash of vintage blue.
I think the whimsy of the invitation mixed with the color palette we chose
manages to bridge the gap between baby and "little lady" perfectly.

This 5x5 invitation has been a favorite of mine eversince...
inviteFINAL


Taking the adorable collection of coordinating printables we created...
collectioncollage


Melissa focused primarily on the food and dessert tables and carried the theme throughout both just beautifully!!
ladybugscupcakes2588

cupcakes2590

gardenofcupcakes

The dessert table is perfection with some darling desserts and an adorable birthday cake.
desserttable2


That smash cake looks SO cute sitting up on top of that 
"too cute" birthday cake...surrounded by a garden of sweet little treats.
birthdaycake2589



The wall of photos depicting Katie's first year were strategically placed
for guests to linger and enjoy while sampling sweets...
desserttable1

Love how the oreo cookie pops include katie's name along with the blue flower to match the invitation.
And I don't know if you can tell, but some of the cellophane wrappers have white polka dots - SO cute!!
chocolatecoveredoreo'sfromsweeeties

The savory table looks just as inviting...
foodtable1


Love what she did with the polka dot paper flowers used on the table.
The cute toothpicks in the jar along with the labels used in the sandwiches serve an important purpose AND happen to be  cute too!!

foodtable2

Matching favor boxes were ready for guests to fill with goodies...
favorboxes


Introducing the guest of honor...the gorgeous birthday girl...."little lady" Katie!
birthdaygirlkatie

And although Katie isn't too sure about the smash cake concept...
birthdaygirlsmashcake

I know I'm sure of the fact Melissa put her heart into Katie's 1st birthday...
It's evident through all of the sweet details...

Thanks for coming back to share pictures Melissa...
You really did a wonderful job - I love how it all turned out!!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

This party should've REALLY gotten you in the mood for Spring...
it's just around the corner you know!
I've already been pleasantly suprised seeing blooms in my yard...how about you?

Be sure to check out the "promise ME" updates...
I've marked a couple if them DONE...
I've added a couple of recipes for Promise #1
And I've done lots of updating.
I hope you "promise Me" peeps are enjoying the process!!

I've also just joined Rhonna in her 6 week shape-up...
Jump on in if you are interested...it's just getting started! *wink*

KEEPING IT REAL
How I'm managing to juggle everything right now is beyond my understanding at this point.

I'm keeping it together despite a whole host of various projects going on.
On top of that...
a lot of the projects are EXCITING!
I'm just bursting at the seams to share everything with you and can't right now.
That only adds to my inner chaos. *wink*
I hope you will continue to shower me with your patience as I "slowly" get to 
the party posts that have been idly sitting in my "Stay glued to your monitor" sidebar.

You really want to know what I believe my saving grace has been?
• "Jalking"/"Wogging" on the treadmill (I'm up to 2 miles in 30 minutes baby!) *wink*
AND...
• Having assigned cooking & dish nights on Mondays & Tuesdays for Clara and Ema. 
This has been SO nice. 
Since the girls have been cooking here and there for awhile now...
they hardly even need my help now when it's their night to cook a meal. 
This frees up a HUGE block of my time. 
These meals are NOT "boxed mac & cheese" either.
At age 14, Clara's done everything from Quiche Lorraine to Taco Salad.
Ema, who is almost 12, actually thoroughly enjoys the art of cooking.
She has just about mastered the art of grilling chicken! Impressive.
She also just created one of our favorite meals all on her own lastnight:
Cranberry Chicken
Mashed Potatoes (we don't do boxed around here)
& steamed green beans.
Aside from a couple of questions, she did that completely without my help.
I was impressed!!

They both have been FABULOUS!! I'm so grateful.
Seriously, you've no idea!!!

7 comments:

Sharnel said...

I'm very impressed with you girls Jess. You should be so proud of them.
On another note I cannot think of anything worse than boxed Mac and cheese!

Amy H. said...

Um, TOTALLY in love with the ladybugs LOOOONG legs. Makes them that much cuter!!!!


XOXO

PS
Do you rent your girls out? I could use a cook/dishwasher...

Unknown said...

Sharnel...Amen sistah on the Mac & Cheese comment. *wink*

Amy - renting may be a possibility when I don't need their services anymore...oh...wait...I guess that won't ever really happen. LOL

I do feel VERY fortunate to have such wonderful girls.
Don't be fooled - they have fought me and given me push back on more than one occasion - but it's my job to prepare them for life, right? (and it doesn't hurt that it helps me out at the same time).

staci @ lizard n ladybug said...

I love everything about this party!!
Your designs are always so flippin' perfect!!!!

Gaye said...

Jessica, you out did yourself girl on the invites! They are adorable and you know I just love the blue!
And, if there was one thing I could have changed in bringing up my two girls, it would have been...that I taught them to cook! So job well done!

Anonymous said...

Anyone have a link to how to make those paper flowers? Theya re soooo cute!

Unknown said...

Anonymous...here are a couple of different links to some tuturials on making the paper fan flowers:

http://www.scrap-a-little.com/2009/05/fan-flower-tutorial.html

http://peppermintcreative.com/blog/2011/01/hybrid-tutorial-how-to-make-paper-fan-flowers/

and a video:
http://vimeo.com/9363800

Hope that helps!!!

CopyRight © | Theme Designed By Hello Manhattan